Microscopes are used in many different fields. The present invention can be used in any field but is especially useful in surgical settings or any other application in which highly three dimensional objects require magnification, particularly those partially occluded by an enclosure. An example of this is ophthalmic surgery.
In the surgical setting, there have been a number of different microscopes designed and sold for this application. Some of these microscopes are represented in the figures labeled as prior art. None of the prior art microscopes deliver two collimated light beams in stereoscopic to the subject surface, e.g., the tissue under examination in a surgical procedure.
The prior art microscopes have delivered to the subject surface (1) one or more uncollimated light beams from the objective lens or (2) a single uncollimated light beam below the objective. See FIGS. 8-10. Routing a parallel light beam through the objective lens transmits a light beam which is not collimated.